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Hurricane Debby (2018-Bob's new version)
Hurricane Debby was the first hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. Debby formed from a tropical wave north of Puerto Rico in early August, and moved westward towards southern Florida while struggling with moderate wind shear and dry air. Debby made landfall in central Louisiana as a Category 1 hurricane. Meteorological History On July 31, a tropical wave exited the coast of western Africa. The wave was mentioned by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on August 1, initially given only a low chance of development due to marginal sea surface temperatures and mid-level dry air. During the next several days, a tongue of Saharan Air Layer (SAL) became entrained into the disturbance, limiting the development of convective activity. Convection finally began to increase with the system on August 6 as it approached the Leeward Islands, but strong wind shear limited a well-defined circulation from developing. An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft investigated the system on the afternoon of August 8, finding a small, well-defined circulation had development. NHC initiated advisories on a tropical depression by 21:00 UTC that day while located north of Puerto Rico, although post-season analysis found that it developed into a tropical depression At formation, the depression was expected to strengthen into a hurricane and threaten Florida. The GFS and HWRF models predicted the depression would make landfall as a major hurricane near Miami, but the ECMWF model kept the system weak. Many news outlets called the depression "the potential for a disaster in the making", even comparing it to Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina. Although moderate wind shear kept the convection to the east of the low-level center, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Debby at 00:00 UTC on August 10. Wind shear was expected to drop to the point where strengthening would ensue, but moderate westerly shear continued to affect the cyclone. Slight weakening occurred on August 11 as Debby approached the coast of south Florida, due to mid-level dry air entrained into Debby's circulation. Debby then made landfall around 20:00 UTC that day, near Cutler Bay, Florida. Debby weakened to a tropical depression early on August 12 as its weak circulation crossed the Florida peninsula. Debby nearly dissipated over Florida early that day, as the circulation became elongated and poorly defined. Conditions became more conducive for strengthening when Debby emerged into the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Debby regained tropical storm intensity by 18:00 UTC on August 12. Decreasing wind shear allowed Debby to develop a mid-level eye, and Debby steadily strengthened for the next 24 hours, acquiring hurricane status by 18:00 UTC on August 13. This made Debby the first hurricane of the 2018 season. Debby then reached its peak intensity just two hours later as it made landfall in central Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and a minimum pressure of 980 mb. After landfall, Debby began to weaken quickly, falling below hurricane strength by 06:00 UTC on August 14. Debby weakened to a tropical depression 18 hours later, and dissipated by 18:00 UTC on August 15. Category:2018 Atlantic hurricane season Category:Realistic Category:Storms that made landfall